What to Know About Using Numbing Creams For Waxing

You know the saying: beauty is pain. While that's often true, you don't always have to suffer through all of your beauty treatments — even when it's something like waxing. In order to avoid having a painful incident occur during your wax experience, many people choose to use a topical product like a numbing cream for waxing or a numbing spray to ease the pain. Although it won't take away the pain completely, numbing cream can certainly help make the experience a little more bearable.

Wax strips, hard wax, and sugar wax all share a relatively similar level of pain. A few other factors can determine how much your wax will hurt, including the thickness of your hair and, of course, your personal pain tolerance. While numbing wax cream can help, there's a bit more you should know before you go slathering yourself all over if you're hoping to use this as a hack ahead of your next hair-removal session.

Keep reading to learn more about applying numbing cream for a Brazilian wax, DIY at-home waxing, or any other wax-based hair-removal needs.

Do Numbing Creams Work?

Numbing creams for waxing do work and can reduce pain during the procedure, though you shouldn't make it a habit of using them too often, especially for smaller things like tweezing. "I wouldn't recommend using one for plucking, as the pain isn't usually severe enough in which you would need numbing cream," dermatologist Shari Sperling, MD, tells PS.

Are Numbing Creams Safe to Use Before Waxing?

Generally, yes, but only if used correctly and on skin that's considered safe. According to Sperling, the risks of using numbing creams for waxing can sometimes outweigh the benefits. "There have been reports of people using them on larger areas for a longer duration of time, which resulted in systemic absorption," she says. But that's not the only thing that makes it a bit of a gamble. Dr. Sperling says you should always be able to feel what temperature your wax is, especially if you're waxing yourself.

"You want to be able to feel the heat of the wax," she says. "If the temperature is too hot, it could potentially burn you." In general, you should avoid using these products on larger areas of your body, like your bikini area. If you do use them, Dr. Sperling recommends applying them 30 minutes prior to your wax and rinsing them off immediately after.

Best Numbing Cream For Waxing

Whether you're waxing yourself at home or dreading going to the appointment you have scheduled, two numbing products Dr. Sperling recommends using to relieve some of the pain are Lidocane Plus Pain Relieving Cream ($15) and Aspercreme Lidocaine Pain Relieving Crème ($10).

Lidocane Plus Pain Relieving CreamFrom$15

You can also try the Equate Pain Relieving Cream ($6) and Biofreeze Pain Relief Cream ($12), which has worked successfully for many of our editors.

Ariel Baker Ariel Baker is the assistant editor for POPSUGAR Beauty. Her areas of expertise include celebrity news, beauty trends, and product reviews. She has additional bylines with Essence and Forbes Vetted. Fun fact: Ariel is a major lover of animals, especially her two cats, Cow and Chicken.

Renee Rodriguez is a staff writer and social producer for POPSUGAR. She writes across all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with an emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for POPSUGAR's TikTok and Instagram accounts.